Description

Author: Matt Smith. Flux: Parian Unpacked is a series of installations by artist and curator Matt smith, on display at The Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge, between 6 March and 1 July 2018. The installations incorporate historic 19th-century parian from the G.D.V. Glynn collection of parian ware, accepted by H.M. Government in lieu of Inheritance Tax from the Glynn Estate and allocated to the Fitzwilliam in 2016, as well as new works in black and white parian, made by Matt Smith in response to the Museum’s permanent collections.

These installations question why museums have historically celebrated the lives of some people and not others, as well as whether we still wish to celebrate these once-feted individuals today, especially in relation to Britain’s colonial past. Matt Smith uses the unstable medium of parian to show that museum collections and history are always in flux.

85 pages with over 50 colour illustrations